Pirate Song
by guildsbounty
Summary: Good and Evil is black and white, crime must be punished: This was always the view of a young Britannian prince. But when his life is turned on its head and a headstrong girl with a questionable past appears, everything turns a thousand shades of gray
1. Prologue, Piracy

Wind snapped sharply through the flag, flying high above the ship; the complex design signifying the single most powerful government in the world, the Holy Britannian Empire. The ship sailed alone, moving swiftly through the ocean, riding over the rolling waves.

A sailor rushed into the bridge, "My Lord!"

The graying man turned to face the intrusion, his face demanding an explanation.

"We've picked up a castaway, she claims to be a survivor from a pirate attack."

The captain raised an eyebrow, "Where is she?"

"Down on deck, she still seems a bit shaken up, and is refusing to give up her weapons…not that it really matters, she only has a pair of swords."

"Is she Britannian?"

"Yes, milord, I do believe she is."

The man paused a moment, "I shall speak with her." He pivoted around, his cape flowing around him, as he headed out the door.

A few minutes later, the Captain came down onto the deck, stepping out to see the survivor squatting down on the ground, hugging a blanket around herself. Her big copper eyes peered up at the man, instantly recognizing that he was nobility. She brushed a lock of her blond hair back, letting it fall over her shoulder, coming a little short of halfway down her back. On the left side of her head, a small bit of hair was tied up in a braid, secured just behind her temple, and was tucked behind her ear, with its several, steel piercings. Her soft pink lips curved into a smile as she stood up, letting the blanket fall away from herself, revealing her slender, petite body. She was dressed in a red, low cut, sleeveless shirt that stopped just a little bit short of her waistline; her pants were sturdy and blue, fitting her body tightly. Secured by straps just above her butt was a pair of slender, straight swords, with a curved hilt that was more like a pistol grip than the hilt of a sword.

The graying man blinked once, then spoke, "Girl, I am Duke Gurel, captain of this ship, you say that you are a survivor from a pirate attack?"

She nodded, wrapping her arms around her own waist, "I am; I was on Baron Zeck's ship, The Valiant. It was hit by a pirate ship, and totally defeated, I managed to get away because I hid during the attack, then managed to get to a life raft when they sank the ship." Her shoulders began to shake a bit as she ducked her head down. "They…they never had a chance."

The duke strode forward, gently placing his hands on the pretty girl's shoulders, "You have nothing to fear, you are safe here."

She stopped shaking, and after a brief moment, she spoke, her voice no longer weak, but instead, calm and serious, "I may be safe…but are you?"

She seized his arm and pulled, twisting herself into the air and slamming both her feet into the side of the duke's head…he dropped like a sack of rocks.

Everyone else standing around was stunned for a brief moment as the girl landed lightly, drawing the twin blades from her waist. She instantly launched herself off the ground, the blades slashing through two men's throats before they could react. Finally, one soldier managed to react, striking down at her with the butt of his rifle. Gracefully, she twisted to the side, the weapon harmlessly sailing past her. With a twirl, both blades came down on his neck, severing his head from his body.

Completing the twirl, she looked up to see several guns aimed at her. Instantly, she flipped backwards in a back handspring, tumbling in midair, and dashing at another soldier.

Shots rang out just as she made it there and vaulted over the soldier's shoulders, tumbling down and slashing across the back of his knees. The soldier cried out as he dropped towards the ground, the girl seizing him by the back of the shirt and holding him up so that he took all the bullets for her.

Sharply, more shots rang out, and the soldiers recoiled, dropping to the ground. Around the edges of the ship, various people now stood, armed to the teeth.

The girl looked up at them with a smile, twirling her swords once, "Jacks, take your squad to the armory, Shana, engine room, Aarol, take the comm. room. Kelik, secure the rafts and lifeboats."

With various choruses of agreement, they scattered, taking cover and fighting their way towards the doors to get below deck.

The blond girl rushed forward, arriving at the door before anyone from inside could get out.

As if right on cue, the door swung open, and the lead soldier burst through, rifle raised. He was immediately cut down by weapon fire, then the girl twirled into the door, her blades slashing aggressively. Her weapons flashed through the air, cutting through the soldiers as they came.

They broke through the first lines, and the three teams that had entered into the ship split up, heading in separate direction. The girl headed off on her own, dashing up flights of stairs, one after the other.

She finally broke to the top of the stairs, launching herself up the last flight, blades first at the soldiers standing there.

One swung at her, she dodged and slashed back, taking him out at the knees.

Another tried to bring his gun around to bear on her as she flipped up into a handstand, wrapping her legs around the man's head. She rolled back, slamming him headfirst into the unforgiving steel floor. She continued the roll, somersaulting forward as bullets slammed into the ground where she had been a mere moment before. Her feet hitting the ground in the follow-through of the somersault, she kicked off, launching herself into the air. The swords flashed, tearing through the firing soldier; she tumbled forward, coming up in a ready stance. Ahead of her, a line of five soldiers stood, aiming right at her, and behind them, a steel door marked 'bridge'.

"Surrender now or we'll shoot!"

She smirked…they'd hesitated…she flipped the swords up, aiming the tips at them to reveal the tube that ran down the back of each blade, down to the hilt, which looked curiously like the chamber of a pistol. She flicked something on the hilt and a trigger flipped free on both hilts.

"What the…"

She opened fire, five shots, five kills.

Not bothering to slow down, she slipped up to the door, hefting one of the dead soldiers up off the ground and holding him in front of her. She lightly pushed the door open, pushing the soldier in first.

Seeing one of their own made them hesitate, and gave her all the time she needed as she shoved the man forward, running up his back and flipping off the dead body, landing in the midst of the bridge, blades flashing.

About ten seconds later, the entire bridge crew was dead. She reached down into her pocket, coming out with a small device that she clipped over her ear, "Bridge secure, everyone report in."

"Armory secure."

A few moments passed, "Comms secured."

A few more moments, "Engine room secured."

Another moment, "Ship secured, resistance subdued."

The girl nodded, "Good, Kelik, cut the jamming and open a line to home."

"Alright…jamming down…line open…patching ya through."

A new voice picked up on the line, male and gruff, "Report."

The girl straightened a bit, "The ship has been captured, Captain. All tracking systems are turned off."

A moment of pause, "Sera, what have I told you about taking part in battles, much less boarding the ship first?"

She flinched a little, "Um…"

"You know you are too valuable for us to risk losing…we'll talk more when you get back. But if you ever think about doing something that stupid again, I'll order you to be restrained until the fight is over."

"Y-yes sir."

The communication cut off and she slumped back against the wall with a sigh, "But it's so boring to just stay back until it's all over, and its not like I even got hurt or anything."

She idly ran a hand through her blond hair, playing with her single braid. "Oh well, guess its time to get to work." She pushed off the wall, headed for the door, passing a few people on her way out.

One of them, a big burly man with a pair of shotguns on his back caught her slender arm, his hand completely enveloping her upper arm, "Where ya going, Miss Sera?"

"This time of day, the yard will be covered in fog, I'm gonna go up the mast so I can see, I'll give directions by radio."

"Ya got chewed out by the Captain again, didn't ya?"

"Eh heh…I'll catch ya later, Jacks."

With that, Sera was out the door, and Jacks and his small crew moved about the bridge, removing the dead bodies and manning the different posts.

One man, a little younger, sat himself in front of a disabled computer, "Hey, uh…Jacks?"

The big man looked over from the ship's wheel, "Yeah, what?"

"Um, the navigation system is down, looks like it took a bullet."

"Of course it is, Miss Sera would have shot it when she was in here."

"Wh-wha!? She did that on purpose? But without nav systems, how are we gonna find our way anywhere?"

Jacks looked over at the man, "This is your first raid with Miss Sera, isn't it?"

"Y-yeah."

"Then I guess I can't blame you for not know. Britannia can track any ship that taps into their navigation satellites, so we can't use those. Besides, where we are headed…ya can't use nav systems anyway."

"What?"

"Out in the ocean, there are a lot of strange things that no one, even now, can understand. The veil is one of those."

"The veil? I've never heard of that."

"Yeah, most people don't talk about it, and those that do are passed off as crazy. The veil is a place that is always shrouded in fog, and peppered with islands and reefs. There are enough magnetic materials in those islands that compasses are unreliable, the fog never lifts so you can't see where you're going, and something about it manages to throw off any satellite scans or satellite communications. In short, even in this day and age, the veil is a part of the world that is unmapped, and tagged as somewhere that everyone should avoid. Sera is the last of a race of people that lived in the veil. A while back, a ship wrecked in the veil and managed to survive. But the veil isn't too well equipped to support life, and eventually, they all died out, except for Sera. No one really knows why, but that girl has the best sense of direction anyone has ever seen, she has maps of the entire ocean memorized, and can navigate without any tools at all. And best of all, she knows the veil like the back of her hand…probably the only person in the world that does. If Sera is on the ship, we don't need nav systems, she is one."

"So…is that why she went up the mast? She has to be up high to navigate?"

Jacks laughed, "Hell no, she's up there pouting. Cap'n tells her not to board a ship until we already have the thing conquered."

"But she was the first one on."

"Exactly, Cap'n must've given her an earful about that."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

High up in the mast, Sera sat, her right arm hooked around some tension lines, her legs dangling freely over the edge of the pole she was sitting on, the nearest solid ground over forty feet below her. Strong ocean winds kicked at her hair as she stared out at the horizon. She put her hand against the radio transmitter on her ear, "We ready down there?"

"Good, Jacks, turn right, thirty-eight degrees."

The large ship began to turn, then straightened, "Two degrees too far, Jacks…there we go."

She cut off the communication, her copper eyes looking out at the ocean as the ship sailed on, heading south east; a short phrase of an old song slipped from her lips, sweet and slow, much slower than the original song was, "I'll sing along with the Pirate Song, hail to the wind, hooray to the glory. We're gonna fight `til the battle's won, on the raging sea."


	2. Princess of the Veil 1

"Tell me, Sera, why do you insist on disobeying orders? I tell you to wait until a ship is secured before you board it, and yet you lead the charge, even going so far as to use yourself as a decoy."

Sera was in a richly furnished room, sitting on a small stool, her feet up on the bars of it and hands pressed against the seat between her legs as she slouched forward, "But it's so boring."

Across the room stood a tall, broad shouldered man of obvious Asian descent that was just starting to show the signs of aging, "You have more important responsibilities than your fun, you are a navigator, not a member of an assault team, we need you safe if capturing a ship is to mean anything."

The blonde shifted around slightly, frowning, "Okay, I'm sorry."

"Don't do it again."

Silence for a moment, then Sera nodded, "Kay."

The man stepped over, placing his hand on top her head, "I know how skilled you are, even Jacks has commented on how good you've gotten, but I couldn't bear losing my adopted daughter."

Sera looked up at him around his arm, and offered a smile up at him.

"There we go, run along now, I have some work to do."

Sera nodded and swung off the chair and walked over to the door, waving as she went out, "See ya Dad."

Outside, she found herself in a plain, metal hallway, heading straight to a flight of steps and heading down the steep stairs with practiced precision, only making it about halfway down before she just grabbed a bar over her head and swung off it, propelling herself far enough forward to land past the end of the steps.

The older man stood in the doorway, watching his adopted daughter go, "Good Lord, most parents with a seventeen year-old daughter worry about what kind of guy she's going to bring home." He shrugged, "Then again, most girls her age aren't daughter to the captain of a pirate guild."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A bulkhead door was pushed open, and Sera stepped through onto an open deck, taking a deep breath of the misty air. She stood on the main deck of what appeared to be a large tanker that had run aground on a small island, retrofitted to serve as a dock for other ships, as well as a place to live. She lightly strolled over to the rail, her hands folded behind her back, then slid to a sitting position, her feet hanging over the edge, her arms hooked over the lower portion of the railing.

Kicking her feet slightly, she watched the silhouettes moving through the fog, other ships crawling their way through the channels between the many islands and reefs, guided by navigators that had managed to learn enough of the veil to make it to their base and back out. To everyone here, this was a hideaway, somewhere the outcasts of society could gather without fear of being bothered by the superpowers of the world. But to Sera, this uncertain maze of islands, coral, and wrecked ships that was eternally shrouded in fog was home. This was where she lived, and really the only solid ground she'd been on for any length of time. Sure, she'd been to cities, and seen areas all around the world, but it was always short term, and she never really felt right when she wasn't either on a ship or back in the veil.

A heavy clunk drew her attention up to see the walking wall of muscle that was Jacks leaning against the railing next to her, "So, how'd it go, Miss Sera?"

She leaned back, propping herself up with her hands, "I got in trouble, again. Dad says I can't board ships anymore until they're already conquered."

The big man laughed, "Well of course he said that, boarding ships is dangerous. You don't wanna end up looking like me, all scarred up."

"No offense Jacks, but if I ended up looking like you, I think I'd freak out."

The big man laughed, "That's true, but you know what I mean, he just doesn't want you to get hurt."

She shifted back forward, looking out into the fog, "Yeah, I know he means well, but that doesn't change the fact that it's boring just sitting on a boat, waiting while you all do the work. I mean, it's not like I'm a 'normal' girl, I know that from the time I've spent outside the veil, can't he just trust me to be careful?"

"Yeah, I'll agree with ya there, Miss Sera, you aren't a typical seventeen year-old girl, but he's your father, it's his job to worry about you. And ya know, I wouldn't want to see our little princess get hurt either."

Sera let out a small laugh at the nickname 'Princess of the Pirates,' she couldn't remember who had given her that name, but it'd stuck. "Thanks, Jacks. So anyway, how was the haul from that ship?"

The big man flashed a broad smile, "We hit the jackpot…that ship was carrying a load of sakuradite, that'll sell for a mint, and people are willing to buy that stuff without asking where it came from. Our only challenge is figuring out who will pay the best price."

"Sakuradite, really? Wow…somebody back in Britannia is gonna be pissed."

"No kidding."

The two were interrupted by the sound of a commotion below, the two looked down to see a large group of people coming in from the docks, arguing loudly. The distance they were away, what they were saying was unintelligible.

Sera looked up at Jacks.

"Lets check it out," he said.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

"I'm telling you, this is insane!"

"You're just jealous that you didn't manage to pull it off yourself."

"Isaac, it's one thing to hit shipments, an empire as big as Britannia can ignore a few missing freighters…but this…"

"Is gonna put us on the map! The famous outlaws that did what no revolutionary group has managed yet. Not even those Black Knights over in Area 11 managed something like this!"

"But we don't want to be on the map, we aren't equipped to take on Britannia!"

The two men stood toe-to-toe, yelling in each other's faces.

"I'm telling you, this is a bad idea! We should just…" he cut off as he felt a pressure against his chest.

Both men looked down to see the top of Sera's blond head between them as she pushed them apart. She turned her copper eyes on each of them in turn, "Knock it off guys!"

Jacks stepped up behind her, now also standing between the two arguing men, "Isaac, Kelik, what's up?"

Kelik turned to look at Jacks, "Jacks, tell this man that he's crazy, he might listen to you."

"No way, man, tell this fool to stop complaining that he didn't manage to pull off something this awesome."

"It's crazy, insane, stupid!"

"We're gonna be rich and famous!"

"We don't WANT to be famous!"

"You don't want to be famous!"

"It's for the best of the clan!"

"No, what I'm doing is for the best of the clan!"

"How is turning the attention of the world's superpower on us for the OW!" he yelped in unison with the other man and looked back down at Sera to see that she had just slammed her heels into the feet of both men.

"Would you two shut up already? At least let us hear what you're arguing about! Isaac, what is it that you did?"

The man grinned broadly, "Okay, get this…so we're just out toolin around, we'd already hit our mark for the day when we see this small convoy in the distance. Outta curiosity, we got a bit closer to see that they were flying a Britannian royal flag, along with the crest of one of the younger princes. So we got this idea and figured, 'what the heck, it's worth a shot.' So we got ahead of them and dropped some divers, me along with em, we boarded the ship with all the flags and slipped a fast-acting gas into the ventilation. With all the ships traveling in a straight line, nobody noticed that the flagship got gassed. So we just snuck our merry way through the ship and took what we wanted."

"So…what you're saying is?"

Kelik burst in, "This idiot kidnapped a Prince!"

"Hell yeah," continued Isaac, "Richard de Britannia, the twelfth prince. We just have to ransom him out, and we'll make loads of cash! Hell, we could probably retire with the ransom of a prince."

"Like they'll pay, the moment you demand ransom, Britannia will be all over you."

"Why the hell do you think I brought him here? We're in the veil, man…they can't find us."

"We can find our way through the veil, what makes you so sure that they can't?"

"We only know because Sera here taught us a few safe routes just to get here, and we're out on the edges of the veil…if we went further in, only she knows how to get around."

"Now you're assuming she'll actually help you, ya haven't asked her if she would."

Sera frowned, planting her hands on her hips, "I'm standing right here ya know, don't talk about me like I'm not."

Isaac rubbed the back of his head, "Ah, of course, my apologies, princess. So, whadda ya say? Wanna help us? I'll give you a share of the ransom money."

She laid a finger against her lips, thinking, "Well, I do have a good place I could hide him…but isn't this a bit dangerous? I thought princes all knew how to fight and defend themselves."

"Yes, well, Prince Richard is one year younger than you are, he has some training, but not enough to really be a problem."

Sera seemed to think a few more moments, then looked up at Jacks, "What do you think?"

The big man shifted slightly, "Well, I honestly agree with Kelik, capturing him wasn't the greatest of ideas, but we have him now, may as well make the best of it, eh? At the least, if Britannia manages to track him to here, he needs to be somewhere they cannot find him."

The copper-eyed girl nodded, "It's settled then, as long as you can get the Captain to agree, I'll help ya out."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

The young prince shifted around, slowly coming to. His eyes slid open to find himself staring at a very unfamiliar ceiling. Last thing he remembered, he'd been on a ship, then he'd felt very dizzy, then nothing. Now he was lying on his back on what felt like a simple cot, looking up at a steel ceiling. He wiped his blond hair away from his blue eyes and pushed himself to sit up. He looked around the room to find himself alone, the room fairly empty, just his cot, a pair of chairs and a table. The walls were unadorned, dotted with small portholes. Across the room was a bulkhead door, closed.

For a moment, he just sat there in confusion, having no idea what was going on. He rolled off the cot and walked over to one of the portholes and looked out to see rough rocks and lots of fog.

He whirled around when he heard the scraping of the door unlocking, only to stop short as he saw a young, blond girl step through, carrying two plates of food with her. She glanced at him, her copper eyes meeting his for a moment, then turned, pushing the door shut with her bare foot. She looked back at him, "So ya finally woke up, eh?"

He sat on the edge of the cot, watching her, trying to figure out what was going on, "Where am I?"

She set the food down on the table, "Inside a wrecked ship on an island in the middle of nowhere."

"Huh?"

"You're the honored guest of a guild of pirates."

"You mean…"

"Yup, you're a hostage…congrats."

He practically jumped to his feet, and stood there for a moment, in shock, "So…are you their prisoner too? I'm trained in combat, I can get us both out of here."

She finished straightening out the table, "Nope, I'm your guard; name's Sera Dering, nice to meetcha, Prince Richard de Britannia."

The prince stiffened, "Y-you're my guard!? What do they take me for!?"

Sera looked a bit miffed at his comment, "What's the matter? Think they don't take you seriously since they assigned a little girl like me to guard you?"

He crouched into a ready position; clenching his fists, "Hmph, I am going to escape, don't think I'll go easy on you just because you're a girl." He wound up and charged, aiming a fist at the girl's face.

He was stopped short as she simply snapped her foot up, slamming it into the weak point which all men have.

Prince Richard let out an unintelligible whimper as he crumpled to the ground, quickly assuming the fetal position.

Sera folded her arms and stood over the curled up boy, "Geez, and I thought royalty was supposed to have good manners, don'tcha know you aren't supposed to hit girls, least of all in the face?"

Richard whimpered.

She leaned down, looking amused, "You've probably never been kicked there before, have you? Hee hee, sucks being you, maybe next time you won't try to hit me."

"Th-th-that was…cheap, it's…not honorable t-t-to take such shots."

Sera crouched down in front of him, "I'm a pirate, rule number one: never fight fair. If you aren't gonna go easy on me, why should I go easy on you?"

He didn't have an answer…or couldn't form one due to the pain he was feeling.

"Besides, if you wanna go outside, go ahead, the door's unlocked."

He looked up at her, managing to push himself to his feet, "Y-you mean, you aren't gonna try to stop me?"

Sera walked over and sat down at the table, "Why bother? I have an entire maze of fog covered islands, and six hundred miles of open ocean to do that for me. Just, at least have some dinner first. I don't want you starving out there before I can come find you."

He stared at her for a moment, then turned up his nose with a huff, "I would rather starve than share a meal with a terrorist."

"Pirate. And that looks like that's really the choice you're facing. I'm the only source of food for ya, and when I'm done eating, I put your food away."

He looked at her for a moment, then whirled around and dashed to the door, wrenching it open and dashing outside.


	3. Princess of the Veil 2

"I swear I have been here before…" stated the young prince, looking around at the sharp peaks of the islands around him, the water in front of him, and the rough stone he stood atop. The fog was still as thick as always, only letting him see shadows of things that were more than a few feet away. "It has to have been a few hours since I left, but I haven't found my way out of this mess."

A sudden voice behind him made him jump, "Wow, your sense of direction really sucks."

He whirled around to see Sera standing a few feet from him, just close enough that her features were somewhat clear through the fog, "How dare you speak to me like that!?"

She shrugged, "Cuz it's true, you've been gone for three hours, but you only made it this far? You haven't even left the island you started on."

"Th-that's…I couldn't find your boat! Tell me where you hid it."

"Boat? Um, about six miles that-a-way," she pointed out at the water ahead of him. "Water's too shallow here to bring a boat in, so ya walk."

"Walk? This is an island!"

"Well aren't you observant."

He jerked back, glaring at the amused little smile on her face.

"So do ya give up?"

"I'll never give up!"

She frowned, "Well, um…could you at least come back for now? It isn't safe to be out here right now, not for you."

He glared, "Not safe? What's not safe, nor honorable, is remaining the prisoner of a pirate whore!"

Sera stopped short for a moment, then her eyes narrowed and her hand flashed forward, striking across his face.

She whirled away from him, "Fine, stay out here then, I'll come find your body after the tide comes back in, if I can even find it, that is."

Richard started, bringing a hand to his cheek and staring at her as she started to storm off into the fog, "W-wait!"

She looked back at him, glaring.

"Wh-what do you mean by find my body?"

"Exactly what it sounds like, if you keep trying to wander around you'll probably die. In about twenty minutes the tide is gonna get low enough and that'll be it." She stated, obviously still angry.

"What do you mean though, why does the tide going out mean it's more dangerous."

"Why should I tell you? You're a jerk, go die in the mist."

"Wh-but don't you need to keep me alive for ransom?"

"I don't care about money, I'm only doing this as a favor."

She kept walking, starting to fade into the fog.

A touch of fear crossed the your prince's face, and he whirled, dashing after her, "Wait!" he quickly caught up and grabbed her shoulder.

She twisted around, looking like she intended to hit him.

He instinctively flinched back, only to open his eyes to see that she had pulled back, not throwing the punch, and instead glared at him.

For a moment, he just looked at her, not sure what to do, then lowered his head slightly, "I…I apologize, what I said was rude, I take it back…now could you…please tell me what is so dangerous about low-tide?"

Silence for a moment, then some of the fire left her eyes and she offered a little smile at him, "Okay, I'll forgive you this time, but that's it. At low tide, we get what we call a mist-swell; the fog gets so thick that you can't see your hand in front of your face. Most people panic and try to get out of the thick fog, and there's lots of sharp rocks and sharp coral around here, and all the fog makes the ground slippery…if you move around randomly, you'll fall, and probably end up either seriously injured, or dead."

"So if I just stay put, I'll be fine?"

"Yeah, if you really wanna sit here for five hours, then resume looking for a way off the island that you'll never find."

"Wh-what do you mean that I'll never find?"

She let out a little giggle, "You really think I'd let you go running around the island if I thought there was a chance you'd find your way off? Why do you think I chose this spot, I'm definitely one of maybe three people that know how to get here."

"I-in that case, I'll just swim across to another island, work my way off that way."

"Swim? Over razor sharp coral? I don't think you could get across without cutting yourself a few times."

"Yeah, so? I'm tough, I can handle a few cuts and scratches."

"Yeah, but sharks are attracted to blood, as are a whole bunch of other carnivorous fish that live in the veil."

That made him hesitate, "S-so…"

"Yup, looks like you're stuck here, so ya just gonna sit out here, or are ya gonna come back with me?"

A moment passed, then his face lit up, "You said that you know the way off, I'll have you show me."

"Pfft, like I'd do that."

His eyes narrowed and he dropped back into a ready stance, "I'll make you."

She stood still a moment, looking at him, "Kay, have it your way." She pivoted away from him and kicked off the ground, dashing away from him, and vanishing into the fog.

He dropped his hands, staring at the thick fog in the direction she'd gone, "I guess I forgot about her still having that option." He muttered.

The young prince looked around, "She said that there's a way off by walking, maybe a cave, some kind of underground tunnel, this island isn't too big, I should be able to find…" he cut off, staring out as, without any kind of warning, his vision was going gray. He inhaled sharply, tasting the thick moisture in the air. In the space of about thirty seconds, all visibility was gone.

He looked around frantically, trying to see through the thick fog. His breathing accelerated, this had to be the 'mist swell' she'd talked about. He kept frantically trying to see, but did remember not to move from where he was, knowing that he'd been around a rather large quantity of rocks with jagged angles.

He thought about what she'd said, 'five hours,' it would be like this for five hours.

Starting to get frantic, he called out, "S-Sera? Sera? I'm…I'm sorry! I'll come back!" Motion caught his peripheral vision and he whirled, seeing nothing. He stared out into the fog for a moment, then whirled, seeing something else…again, nothing there.

"Sera!?" he yelled out, starting to panic.

He jumped forward, spinning around as he felt something touch his shoulder. He managed to find poor footing, and ended up on his butt, trying to shield himself from whatever had touched him.

"There you are, stay still a moment."

He dropped his guard, recognizing Sera's voice, "S-Sera?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Of course, dummy, who else would it be?"

He breathed what seemed to be a sigh of relief, "Then that was you that I saw moving around me a moment ago?"

"Huh? No, I walked in a straight line right to where I'd last seen you, when you yelled I figured out exactly where you were. You must've been seeing mist wraiths."

He strained his eyes, trying to see the girl that stood over him, "Mist wraiths?"

"Yup, the veil's haunted ya know." He jerked sharply when he felt something touch his right hand, only to recognize that it was her hand grabbing his.

"H-haunted?"

"Yup, they mostly come out during the mist swells, I don't think they're dangerous or anything, but maybe they leave me alone since I was born and have lived most my life here…no promises about what they may do to outsiders."

His hand clamped down on hers, trying to change the subject as he was being very attentive to looking for those glimmers of motion, "S-so, do you have something that lets you see through this?"

"Nope, I'm as blind as you are out here."

"Th-then, we're stuck here for five hours?"

Sera tugged at his arm, and he stood up, "I told ya, there's a reason that they asked me to watch you, come on…follow close, if for some reason we get separated, just start calling me and I'll find you."

Richard felt the tug on his hand as she started leading him along; with no other real options, he let himself be led through the fog.

"Take small steps, test your footing before you step all the way down onto it…I'll warn you if there's anything to step over."

He couldn't help it; he had to ask, "How in the world can you know where we're going?"

"Dunno, rock here: step up. I just do."

He shuffled forward until his foot connected with the rock she was talking about, and stepped up onto it.

Sharply, he saw more movement in the fog and let out a little gasp, reaching forward and grabbing Sera with his free arm.

Sera yelped in surprise, "Hey! Let go!"

"B-but, I saw another wraith!"

Simultaneously, two things happened, Richard took note of how soft whatever he had grabbed was, and the offending hand was shoved loose as Sera's right elbow snapped back, slamming into his ribs, "Hands Off!" she yelled.

He staggered back, only to stop, as Sera hadn't let go of his other hand. He stood still for a moment, then flushed crimson, realizing what he'd done, "S-sorry…but I really did see another wraith."

A slight sigh escaped from Sera, "Geez, I didn't think a little ghost story would scare you so much."

"H-huh?"

"Let me spell it out, mist wraiths exist, but they aren't ghosts. When the fog is this thick and you can't see, your mind, which is used to seeing something other than gray and white fog, tries to see something. You end up seeing shapes in the fog that aren't there, the fog swirls a bit and your eyes take that as motion. You're trying to see so hard that you end up seeing things that aren't really there…geez."

"Th-then…why did you tell me that they were ghosts?"

"Cuz it was funny…but apparently you thought that being scared was license to try to grope me, so that killed the fun…perv."

"Wh-what!? I'm…I'm not…it was an accident, I just got scared and…and…"

"Whatever, but if I catch you stealing my underwear, or even going into my room at all, I'll kick you so hard you won't be able to walk for a week…and if you try to peep while I'm taking a shower, I'll just kill you, kay?"

"B-but, I'm not…I didn't…I have more honor than that, I wouldn't dream of…"

"Oh, just like you have enough honor not to hit an unarmed girl that wasn't even threatening you?"

"Th-that's different!"

She tugged him forward again, leading him through the fog, "Yeah, right…so you'd go all misogynist on me, but wouldn't dream of the other stuff? I'm callin bull."

"B-but…"

"I'm so bleaching my hands once we get back…"

"But…"

"They owe me for this, big time…gotta deal with a wussy, perverted, misogynistic prince."

"But I…"


	4. Princess of the Veil 3

"What did you say!?"

"I-I'm terribly sorry Milord, we never expected someone to use such underhanded tactics, least of all in the middle of the ocean."

"That is no excuse! You allowed Prince Richard de Britannia to be kidnapped, right out from under your nose!"

The officer being yelled at stood stock still at attention while his superior chewed him out.

"Now, how are you going to correct your mistake, where is the Prince now?"

"I-I do not know sir."

"He was kidnapped in the middle of the ocean, therefore he eventually had to be transferred by boat, the location where the incident occurred was too far from any islands for someone to swim the whole distance."

"W-well, we did pick up one ship tapping into the navigation satellites near the area of incident, we ran a trace on it, only to discover that the ship doesn't exist in any of our records, but was using a fake transponder key to tap into the satellites."

"And? Why did you not give chase? Something that suspicious would surely clue you in that they were the criminals."

"Well, sir…we lost them, the satellites tracked them to a certain point, but then they just vanished, we tried aiming spy satellites at the area, but saw nothing but what we think is fog."

The officer glared at his subordinate, "Then send people to investigate personally!"

"We tried that sir, we sent in an aerial scout, but we've lost contact with them, transponder and all…and sir, there's more, one of our men did some research on those coordinates and discovered that the entire area is red-tagged as unnavigable, by sky and sea, although no one seems to know why."

"Surely it's just a ploy, have some of our people look into it in our systems, see when this hack to hide these terrorists took place."

"Sir…that's the problem, it isn't a hack, this area shows up on the old paper charts as well."

The chief officer glared for a moment, the whirled around, "Deploy an assault fleet, we will travel to the edges of this 'unnavigable area' and investigate it ourselves. You had better be prepared for the consequences of your failure."

"Yes sir."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Richard rolled over on his cot, looking around for a moment in confusion, "Oh yeah…" he muttered, remembering where he was. He quietly rolled out of the cot and ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

He opened the door to his room into the small kitchen/living room that was the other part of the tiny building, once a small boat, it had been modified into a makeshift house. He looked around, seeing no sign of his guard, "Sera?" he called, looking around. He walked up to the door to her room and put his hand on the bulkhead handles, then froze, remembering what she'd told him the day before, instead settling to knock, "Sera? Are you in there? Are you still asleep?"

He jerked slightly as a thought occurred to him, if she was asleep, then he could catch her off guard and force her to show him the way out of this mess. He grabbed the handles to the bulkhead door and slowly started to turn them, unlocking the heavy door.

"Hey Perv!" He froze…the voice coming from behind him, then something impacted with the back of his head rather solidly, staggering him. "I told you not to go into my room!"

He started trying to explain his way out before he even tried to turn around, "N-no, it's just that…I was…I woke up, and you…you weren't here, so I thought that you'd be in your room, maybe still asleep."

"Still asleep? I've been up for six hours, it's eleven o'clock already."

He looked down at the ground, seeing what had hit him…a dive mask. Slowly he turned around to see Sera standing in the entrance, dripping wet, and dressed in a black and gray wetsuit, an air tank slung on her back. She glared at him, not believing his story for an instant, but rolled her eyes, "Geez, I told you not to go into my room, I'm a light sleeper, even if you need something while I'm asleep, just knock, if I don't answer, I'm not in there."

She paused a moment, then just shook her head, "I swear, you're some kind of idiot." Deftly she unslung the air tank, dropping it on the ground next to her with a clunk, then turned around, reaching up and starting to unzip the back of the wetsuit.

Richard jerked back, "W-wait, what're you doing!?" he yelped, his face turning pink.

Sera looked over her shoulder at him, "If I wear this into my room I'm gonna track water all over the place."

Richard whirled around, covering his eyes with his hands, then slowly cracked his fingers apart, peeking back over his shoulder to see that she already had the wetsuit around her ankles and was stepping out of it. But he completely dropped his hands when he saw that she had been wearing a simple, black, one-piece swimsuit underneath the wetsuit, "Oh, you weren't just wearing the wetsuit."

She paused, looking down at herself, then back at him, "Well no crap, what kind of idiot only wears a wetsuit…especially one like this, the armor in it would chafe something awful. Could ya go over to that cabinet there and get me two towels?"

"S-sure…and armor?"

She tilted her head to the side, starting to wring out her hair, "Yup, when we're doing underwater work we wear wetsuits with chain mail in it, protects us from the coral, and anything else sharp that we happen to be working with. Because of the water, you tend to be a little more clumsy, so we wear the armor to protect us against that."

He reached into the cabinet, pulling out a pair of towels, "But isn't that heavy?"

She took the towels from him, winding one around her hair, "Eh, things don't weigh as much underwater, you hardly notice at all."

"Oh, so…if I had one of these, I could swim away from here without a problem."

She started scrubbing at her body and swimsuit with the other towel, drying it to the point that it wasn't dripping anymore, "Yup."

He folded his arms, looking at her, "So what if I took yours? While you were sleeping, you said you weren't taking it into your room."

Sera wrapped the second towel around her chest, letting it hang down past her waist and walked right up to Richard, looking up at him, emphasizing the half-foot difference in their heights, "I'm not too worried about that, I'm five foot six, and you're what, almost six feet tall? Not to mention that you're built bigger than me…if you could get my wetsuit past your thighs I'd be impressed."

Richard's shoulders slumped, "So that's why you had no issue bringing it here."

She stepped around him, heading for the small refrigerator and coming out with a jug of water, "Yep."

He watched as she poured some of the water into two glasses, "So, what were you doing out there anyway? You said work?"

"Yep, working on my ship…or, well…it will be mine."

"Your ship?"

"Yep, Dad says I can't have my own ship until I turn eighteen, I still have a few months left, but that doesn't mean I can't start getting my ship ready, I've already got a crew and everything."

"So, what were you doing?"

"Well, I'm one of the smallest people around here, so I usually end up in ducts and maintenance passages fixing anything from electrical, to plumbing, to doing welding work."

He paused a moment, but decided he had nothing better to do, so he asked, "Okay…so what kind of ship is it?"

Sera winked at him, "That's a secret."

"What? Why?"

"Because a pirate never gives away her secrets, least of all her ship."

"Is there anything you will tell me?"

"Um…I'm a year older than you?"

He crossed his arms, looking a little irritated, "I'm just trying to make conversation here."

She finished off her glass of water, "And you're lucky that I'm the one looking after you, if my friends had their way, you'd be tied to a chair and gagged, and trying to make conversation wouldn't be happening at all."

He started slightly, just talking to her, he could almost forget that he was a hostage…she certainly didn't treat him like any hostage he'd ever heard of. "Can you at least tell me what's going to happen to me?"

"Well, I ran into the ringleader of this little escapade, for his sake, we'll call him Bob, today. He said he had made contact with some Britannian officials and was working on the negotiations. If I had to guess, I'd say it'll be some kind of dead drop exchange of you for a whole bunch of money in non-sequential, unmarked bills."

"Is that all I am to you people? Just a bunch of money?"

Sera shrugged, "Can't speak for Bob and company, and I don't really care, but people don't usually talk to money."

That caught Richard's attention, as he turned to look at the girl, setting his cup on the counter.

"Gonna go take a shower now, feel free to go wander around more if ya'd like, just give it about another half hour for the tide to come back in."

He whirled to watch her as she lightly trotted off to her room, "Wait, you came back here during low tide? When you can't see a thing?"

"Yup, see ya whenever." And she deftly kicked the door shut behind her.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sera stepped back out from her room, dressed in a light blue T-shirt, a pair of gray, Capri jeans, and a complete lack of shoes. She glanced over, slightly surprised to see that Richard hadn't left.

"Still here, huh?"

Richard nodded, "I've been thinking, yesterday I circled the island twice and didn't see anything resembling a way off, and you said you came back during low tide…the way off this island, its something that can only be accessed during low tide, isn't it?"

"Heheh, clever for a perv, aren'tcha. Don't think I'll tell you what it is though."

"I didn't expect you to. So uh…I'm guessing you won't tell me anything about your 'friends' either, will ya?"

"Nope, the less you know about us, the better for us once this is all over. We can get back to doing what we do best, and you can get back to being a spoiled rich kid."

Richard just sighed, "You're impossible, you know that?"

Sera's face split into a broad grin, "Yeah, I know." She lightly stepped over and sat down across from him, "So, what's it like? Living as royalty."

He stared at her, "Wh-why would you want to know that?"

She slid forward on her seat, leaning towards him, "I'm curious, I've never gotten to talk to royalty before, and I can't tell you too much about me. I don't even know how 'normal' people really live, much less royalty."

"Normal people?"

"Yeah, I've never lived around normal people, I was born and grew up here in the veil."

"So…you've always been a pirate? You were born into this?"

"Nope, parents died when I was young."

"Then how…"

Sera cut him off, "Back to the topic…what's life like as royalty?"

"Bu…okay. It's really…busy, always something going on, always having to keep up with everything going on around the Empire. There are always servants around, waiting to tend on anything I need. Lots of parties any time there is something to celebrate. Matter of fact, my birthday party is coming up in a few weeks, so people are already preparing for it. That's actually where I was going when…well…your friends kidnapped me…back to the mainland."

She leaned forward, planting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, "That sounds kinda interesting, what kind of party…like balloons, friends, and cake?"

Richard shook his head, "No, nothing like that, everything done within the royal family is extremely formal, so the party would be more of a formal ball."

"I think that could be fun, but only once in a while…I don't think I'd like all my birthdays to be like that. I mean, my last birthday, it was just me and my Dad…"

"Didn't you say your parents were dead?"

"Yep…I mean my adoptive Dad…he's the pirate. Anyway, we just went down to the Ann-Marie and just kinda hung around. A bunch of people showed up to wish me happy birthday and all, but it was nice and quiet…well, I guess Ann-Marie isn't ever really that quiet, but it was still nice…all the brawls stayed away from our table."

The prince stared at her, looking confused, "The Ann-Marie is…"

"A bar, pretty fun one too."

"Fun?"

"Yep, always busy, people always telling stories…and watching the brawls is just an added bonus…then watching the bouncer break em up is even more fun. So, what else, there has to be more to your life than just that."

He shrugged, "Well yeah, but it seems real routine to me…I guess it just isn't really anything special, just another way of life."

The two were silent for a moment, Sera appearing to be thinking.

Finally, Richard spoke up again, "So…how about you? You didn't seem to have a problem with telling me things that are just about you."

"That's right, I don't really care if you know who I am…it's not like you could find me if I wanted to disappear."

"So…"

"Alright, I was born here in the veil, my parents wrecked here off a ship and lived here for about three years before I was born. It isn't easy to live here, but if you're careful, you can handle it. They died when I was about six, I don't remember how it happened though. But I'd already been helping out enough with the survival part of things that I was able to keep myself alive. That's also why I know this place so well, I never actually left the veil until I was thirteen. That's when my adoptive Dad found me and took me in."

"So, your name, Sera Dering, is that the name from your birth parents?"

"Yep, well…that's what they finally settled on. My mom never took my Dad's last name, so which name I'd use was kinda up for debate. My Dad, Alexander Dering, liked the name Arturia, my Mom liked the name Sera. So, they settled on me using my Dad's last name, and the first name that my Mom liked."

"What was your Mother's name?"

"Oh, Elinda Pendragon."

Richard stared for a moment, "Pendragon?"

"Yeah, strange name, huh?"

"It sounds familiar for some reason."

"Well of course it does, in old Britannian legend, Pendragon was King Arthur's last name…that's even where my Dad's idea for 'Arturia' came from."

"Oh, of course…" he trailed off, not sounding quite sure.

She pushed herself to her feet, "Hungry?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I guess I am."

"Kay, come on, you're gonna help me."

The young prince looked at her uncertainly, but got up and followed the pirate girl over to the small kitchen, watching as she pulled open a cupboard and started looking through it.

"Catch." She called, lobbing a pair of cans over her shoulder.

Richard managed to catch both the cans, looking down to see that one was a can of green beans; the other was a can of mandarin oranges. He had to set those down quickly as a small metal device was tossed at him as well. Catching the small device, he looked down at it, looking confused.

"Go ahead and crack open those two cans." And she moved on to the refrigerator, pulling it open.

He stood there, staring at the cans and the small device, then picked up a can, examining both and trying to figure it out.

Sera turned away from the fridge, holding something fairly large and wrapped in foil, then paused watching Richard turn the small device over in his hand.

"Don't tell me you've never used a can opener before."

He gave her a sheepish look, "No…we always have servants that prepare our meals."

She rolled her copper eyes and took the can opener from him, locking it against the side of the can lip, "Locks on like this, turn the handle, then take off the lid when it's cut through. Oh, and when you're done, tear the paper off the can of beans."

"Huh? Why?"

"You'll see, just do it." She dropped the foil-wrapped bundle on the counter, and opened an under-counter cabinet, coming out with a large skillet, then going into a drawer for a few packages of spices.

As she worked, Richard managed to quickly figure out the can opener and opened the two cans, then ripping the wrapper off the beans.

He glanced back to see that she was already working over the gas stove, unwrapping the foil to reveal whitish meat.

He walked up, looking over her shoulder, "What's that?"

"Mahi-mahi."

He gave her a blank look.

"Fish," she explained, flipping it into the skillet.

"Okay…"

"Could ya bring me the can of beans?"

He nodded and picked up the open can, carrying it over.

"Just set it on the burner there, the one that's lit."

He did, "Oh, so that's why you had me take the paper off."

"Yeah, setting the wrapper on fire isn't really a good idea."

Richard was quiet again, watching her cook.

"Wanna go set the table? Dishes are all in that cabinet up there."

He pointed at a cabinet, "Up here?"

"Open it and look, dummy."

So he did, seeing a few stacked plates and glasses above them, "Um, what all do we need?"

"Plate, cup, fork, and knife; silverware's in the drawer right below the cabinet you're in."

With a nod, the young prince pulled out the dishes, carrying them over to the table and setting them out.

"Actually, bring the plates back here."

He looked back to see her pull the skillet off the stove, holding it out towards him.

He came back, carrying the two plates, and she flipped the cooked fish onto them, then grabbed a pair of tongs, pulling the beans off the stove as well.

The two carried the food over to the table, Sera grabbing the can of oranges on her way.

Once everything was on the table, and Sera had made one last trip over to the fridge and come back with two glasses of milk, Richard looked over the gathered food, "Kind of a…strange combination."

Sera looked up at him, "So? It's got all the stuff ya need: beans for the greens and vitamins, oranges for the vitamin C, fish for the protein, and whole milk for the calcium and Vitamin D."

Silence for a moment, "But oranges and beans seem like a strange combination."

She was already eating, and spoke after swallowing a bite of the fish, "If it bugs ya, have a bite of Mahi-mahi between em. But still eat it all, it'd be a pain if you got sick."

Richard couldn't help it, he let out a little laugh, "You know, you keep acting so tough, but you're really a nice person, aren't you?"

Sera stopped mid-bite, her fork still in her mouth, staring at him, then finished the bite, "Nope, I'm a pirate," she smiled and added with a wink, "A real scoundrel."

"I don't believe that, you aren't at all like what I was told criminals were like."

Her mouth full, she spoke anyway, "Well, m'be ya shoun b'lev ever'thin ya hear." She swallowed the bite, "Besides, I'm not a good person at all, I'm a liar, a thief, and a murderer."

He stared for a moment, the fact that she said this without looking like she cared at all caused him to pause, "B-but, you didn't have a choice, this was a life you were pulled into."

Silence for a moment as Sera kept eating, then paused, "Ya know, you aren't the first person to tell me that…and it doesn't change what I am; I've broken too many laws to count, and enjoyed it."

"Not the first?"

"You thought you were the first hostage I've kept an eye on? No, no, I've looked after entire shiploads of people…sure I took them a bit deeper into the veil, where I could keep control easier, but it was the same idea." She took a quick drink of milk, "Usually, they'd say that because they were trying to convince me to come over to their side and lead em out, others so I'd drop my guard and they could try to force me to lead them out…but I think you're the first one to say that without an ulterior motive I can see."

Richard finished his bite of beans, "But, why you? I'm sure there are other people that would be better suited for guard duty than you."

"Guard duty? Heh, hardly…I'm not the one guarding you…Lady V is doing that for me, I'm just here to make sure she doesn't kill you, and to lead you out when the time comes."

"Lady…V?"

"The veil, it's our name for her…there's things deeper in the veil that could kill you if you don't know what you're doing. I'm here to make sure you stay away from those areas, and to take care of you until its time to bring you out."

"But…why you?"

"Cuz I'm the only one that can…I know the entire veil like the back of my hand, everyone else only knows how to get to places that I've showed them how to find. Matter of fact, there's only one other person that knows how to get out to where we are, anyone else who tries would end up lost in the fog…and even he doesn't know the land route to here."

"They're just using you, Sera…can't you see that?"

"They can't, if I wanted to leave, they couldn't hold me if they tried…I only do things that I want to do."

Again, silence for a moment, "So, what were you saying about the veil being able to kill people?"

"Well, can't give ya all the details, and if you're careful, and know what you're doing, it isn't too bad, but there're places where the fog doesn't lift at all, and swirls like crazy; never go into those places, unless I tell you it's okay to."

"H-huh?"

She slid back from her food and reached up to her right ear, unfastening one particularly large band of an earring that covered about half her ear lobe. Slipping the pins on it loose, she slid it off to reveal torn and scarred skin underneath it, looking like something had tried to rip part of her ear off, "This happened because I went into one of those places without being careful, At the same time, it broke my right ring finger, almost tearing it off, and mashed up the rest of the fingers on that hand; I ended up with a nasty cut on my right shin, and tore my favorite pair of pants."

He stared at her, "Wh-what happened?"

"That's not important, just remember what I said if you ever go wandering around here again, we're a distance from the nearest one of those spots, but still, just to be sure…" she trailed off, seeming to be listening to something.

"Sera?"

"Shh," she hissed, slipping quietly over to the window and looking out.

She was silent, looking for a moment, then whispered, "What the heck is he doing…dear God…" Again, another moment of silence as Richard walked over to the window.

"What is it?" He trailed off to see a small boat filled with soldiers in Britannian uniform unloading from a small boat on the shore just a few yards from the wrecked boat they were in, with one face among them that Sera recognized.

"Isaac…you idiot."


	5. Princess of the Veil 4

Richard was silent for a long moment, staring out the window at the soldiers, and the one person in plain clothing that was being held at gunpoint. He turned his gaze over to Sera, who had ducked away from the window and sat with a unreadable expression on her face, her mind seemingly racing at top speed.

"There's no way…" she whispered, "No way he was that stupid…he met with them? Face-to-face?"

Both of them jumped as a heavy impact was heard against the door, followed by another.

The young prince looked over at Sera, suddenly looking worried.

She glanced back, looking slightly resigned, "Might as well go open it…I don't even have a weapon here."

For a moment that felt like forever, he looked at the girl who just gave him a weak shrug and smile, then he walked towards the door, calling out, "Attention Britannian soldiers, I am Richard de Britannia, twelfth prince of the Britannian Empire. I have this situation under control and am opening the door."

The beating on the heavy door fell silent, then Richard pulled the latches free on the door and swung it open to find himself facing a line of guns. Seeing that he was alone, the soldiers dropped their guns and rushed past him into the building. Richard managed to turn fast enough to see two step up, aiming their guns at Sera as another grabbed her roughly by the hair and shoved her to the ground, raising a cry of pain from the girl.

Richard started towards them but was cut off as a man with the insignia of a Captain stepped in front of him with a bow, "Your Highness, are you unharmed?"

"Y-yes…" he stepped around the man to look at the other soldiers as one pulled out a pistol and pressed it against the base of Sera's skull.

Just before the man pulled the trigger, Richard grabbed his arm, "Stop!" he yelled.

The captain stared for a moment, "Your highness, we have already confirmed that this girl is one of your captors…I'm sure you are aware that the penalty for kidnapping royalty is immediate execution."

Richard flinched, hearing a gunshot, followed by a dull thump outside, and stared in horror as the soldier replaced the pistol against her skull.

The young prince set his jaw, "I told you to stop! She didn't do anything wrong, she's taken care of me this whole time, been kind to me!"

The captain set a hand on his shoulder, "Your highness, what you are experiencing is known as Stockholm Syndrome, a sense that you trust your kidnapper."

"Bu…I don't care! She knows about where the rest of the Pirates in this place are hidden, she's important…" Finally he just summed it all up, "You will not kill her, I, Richard de Britannia, command it!"

The soldier looked at his commander, who, with a shrug, nodded at him. The man didn't let Sera up, but at least removed the gun. She twisted slightly from where she was pinned, turning her face, marked with blood from where her nose had been slammed into the ground, towards Richard, questioning him with her gaze.

"I will not have it said that the Twelfth Prince rewards kindness with cruelty, she was kind to me, and so I will be kind to her."

The captain cut in, "I'm sure you understand that she must be taken in."

"Of course, cuff her, she comes with us."

The soldier complied, snapping handcuffs onto her slender wrists, then roughly hauling her up to her feet, winding a piece of cloth around, jamming it back into her mouth and tying it behind her head.

Richard watched, then turned to the Captain, "How did you find me?"

"The terrorist came out of this foggy mess to negotiate with us, we captured him and forced him to lead us here, now we will simply backtrack to find our way out."

The prince glanced at Sera again, watching as they hustled her towards the door; she was still watching him, and something about her gaze put a level of doubt in him. "Are you certain that you can find your way back out?"

The soldier nodded, "We're only about fifteen minutes into this mess, we just head straight back the way we came. Your Highness, we need to leave, lets go."

Richard nodded, falling into step with the soldiers, heading back out, past the body of the one who'd led them here, and out to the small Zodiac.

Working with practiced precision, the soldiers waded their way out to boat and climbed aboard, the one hauling Sera simply tossing her into the boat with very little effort. After climbing in himself, he shoved her to the front of the small craft so she was right at the bow.

Once everyone was aboard, one of the soldiers pulled up the anchor and the motor was fired up, guiding the boat away from the small island.

From where he sat in the center of the Zodiac, Richard couldn't see much past the soldiers, but still cast one last glance at the wrecked ship as they pulled away, motoring off into the fog.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A half hour later, the small craft was still gliding swiftly through the thick fog. Richard looked around at the soldiers, all of whom were shifting around, looking through the dense mist, trying to see an end, or even something that looked familiar…the whole problem was, through the fog, everything looked the same.

The captain looked around, trying to keep an air of confidence, if just for the sake of not losing face in front of a prince, but it was starting to falter.

No one had spoke for nearly ten minutes, so it startled everyone when Sera suddenly let out an "Mmph!"

She twisted around, looking back at the rest of the soldiers, specifically at the one driving, "Mmmph!!!!"

Richard was the only one that read the urgency in her eyes as the soldier in charge of her drew back his arm and took a swing at her head, "Shut UP!"

Before he made contact, the craft lurched sharply, letting out a sickening grinding noise. As it hit, Sera's legs kicked off, throwing herself clear of the boat, and out of reach of the soldier. Almost instantly, she was lost in the surprisingly thick fog they had just entered.

At the same moment, a loud bang was heard as something shredded through the inflatable portions of the Zodiac, the bucking of the small craft threw people around, tossing a few soldiers off, shortly followed by splashes and thunks of people hitting outside the boat.

For a moment, completely indiscernible yelling was the only sound to be heard as the soldiers scrambled to find some level of stability as the motor thrust the craft further onto whatever it had just hit. Finally, the driver managed to kill the engine, and the yelling was replaced with various cries of pain.

With a swirl, the fog cleared somewhat, revealing what had happened. The fog had been so thick that they had been unable to see the small island they had just run into, the sharp rocks and coral had shredded apart the Zodiac's hull, and the thrown soldiers had all landed in various places around the boat, many of them faring no better than the Zodiac had from their violent contact with the jagged rocks. And in the midst of it all, Sera was wiggling up to a sitting position on the single smooth spot that could be seen, a little bruised and scraped, but none the worse for the wear.

She fixed her copper eyes on the pilot of the destroyed Zodiac, "Mm-mmph."

Richard was the first to figure it out, "You…knew we were about to hit something, didn't you."

Sera nodded.

The captain stared at her for a moment, then looked back at the prince, "That isn't possible, no one could have seen through that fog."

Cutting him off, Richard spoke, "She didn't see it, she just knew it was there. I don't understand how, but its like she has this entire place memorized…that's why they assigned her to guard me, because she is the only one who can find her way through this place."

Jostling his way through, Richard gingerly stepped down onto the sharp rocks and walked over to Sera, he reached around her and untied her gag, slipping the cloth out of her mouth, "You know where we are, right?"

She worked her mouth a bit, licking her lips, then answered, "Of course."

"And is there a way out of the veil from here? One that doesn't need a boat…or a way that leads to a boat that we can leave with."

Silence for a moment, then she nodded, "Yes, there is."

Richard turned back to the boat, seeing the other soldiers trying to tend to the injuries of the soldiers that had been thrown, although two soldiers had come down head first and had died instantly, the captain working quickly to figure things out. "She knows the way out, and she'll take us there."

The commanding officer looked over at him, "She didn't agree to that, and how can you possibly trust her, she's a terrorist."

Richard glanced at the blond girl, "Pirate." He corrected, "And you will do that, right?"

Sera looked out into the fog for a moment, "My job is to make sure you stay safe, then take you out of the veil when the time comes…looks like the time has come. Yes, I promise I'll lead you out of the veil."

From where she sat, she lifted herself up on her hands, and, by bending her back and folding her legs up in front of her, swung her upper body through her arms, landing lightly on her feet, with her cuffed hands in front of her.

The soldiers stared a moment, but were further shocked as she reached up and took off one of her earrings, using the stud on it to pick the locks on the handcuffs, dropping them casually to the ground. Like it was no big deal at all, she continued taking off her earrings and stuffing them in her pocket.

One soldier muttered out, "Wow, she's sure flexible…"

The captain, however, was unimpressed, "If she knows this place so well, what's to stop her from just running off on us."

Richard was silent, he didn't have an answer to that.

Sera did, however, "I guess a pirate's promise isn't really good for much, huh?" She lightly stepped over the rocks, her bare feet sliding between all the sharp edges as she walked over to the soldiers, "Any of you have a zip-tie?"

The captain was speechless a moment, "Why?"

"Well, as you saw, handcuffs won't hold me, but if you zip-tied me, that'd work better…but I need my hands free so I can get through some of these places…so I have another idea. If you zip-tied me to Prince Richard, that'd leave all of you free to work your guns or whatever, and he's bigger than me, so I couldn't just drag him anywhere he didn't wanna go."

A moment passed as the captain thought it over, then he nodded and pulled a thick plastic zip-tie out of his belt.

Sera let out the tiniest of smiles, then picked her way back across the rocks to Richard, grabbing his right hand in her left.

"You highness, is this alright with you?" the captain asked as he followed the girl across the rocks.

The prince looked down at the girl standing next to him, her hand laced together with his, "Y-yes, it's fine with me."

With a nod, the soldier grabbed the linked hands and wrapped the zip-tie around the two's wrists, pulling it tight. He then looked back at his squad and walked over to them, trying to figure out what could be done about the injured.

Richard was watching as well when he felt a sudden, moist warmth touch his cheek. He looked down to see Sera pulling back from where she had just planted a light kiss on his cheek, "Wh-wha?" he started, only to be cut off by the shorter girl, speaking softly enough that only he could hear her.

"Don't get any ideas, perv; that was payment for saving my life."

He stood still a moment, looking at her, then tugging her with him, walked over to a small pool of water, "Here, you still have some blood on your face…anyway, are you okay?"

Sera looked down at her reflection in the water, then dipped her free hand in and started working the dried blood off her face and cleaning the scrape that she'd picked up on the right side of her jaw, "Yeah, I'm okay…it doesn't really hurt anymore."

"Look…I'm sorry, about all this."

She scrubbed the last little bit of blood off her face and looked at him with a little smile, "That's okay, I knew this could happen when I volunteered to watch you. But, I've got a feeling that this will end well." She paused, then added, as if an afterthought, "They didn't give you anything since they got here, did they?"

Richard gave her a confused look, "No, why?"

"Oh, no reason, just wonderin."

He stared down at her for a moment, then had his attention pulled away as the soldiers walked up, the injured being supported by their comrades, and the two dead being carried as well.

Sera whispered, "That's gonna slow us down."

The captain heard her, and scowled down at the girl, "I don't know how you terrorists behave, but we Britannians don't abandon our wounded."

Sera didn't respond, but turned away, "This way, lets go; we need to make it to Lady Victoria by low-tide."

Richard fell in beside her as the soldiers fell in as well, walking through the fog.

"Sera, why do we need to be there by low-tide, can you not get through this area during then?"

"I could get you through, but this is way too many people."

Nothing more was said as Sera led them across the island, then out into knee-deep water, picking her way carefully over coral.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A few hours later, they still walked, weaving their way past sharp crags and through shallow water. The captain walked up, falling in beside the two in the lead, "How much further is it?"

Sera glanced back at him, "A long way, we're almost to Victoria, but from there, we still have a good ten miles to go, and we'll have to stay put for a few hours once we get there, let the low tide pass."

"Wouldn't low tide make getting through water areas easier?"

Richard cut in, "For some reason, during low tide, the fog gets so thick you can't see at all. She couldn't safely lead us through that."

The soldier just rolled his eyes, "Can't we just find a clear spot of land and call for an aerial evac?"

The young pirate just rolled her eyes, "Have you tried to use your radios since you came in here?"

He jerked slightly, "Yes, it was all static, I figured it was because we were close to your base and were being jammed."

Sera shook her head, "Nope, its because you're in the veil…electronic signals don't work in here, anything long range…even sound, if you use a megaphone, gets distorted over distance. Almost anything electronic won't work in here, especially anything that uses Sakuradite."

"Why?"

"Because of all the electromagnetic fields around here, they're crazy. Compasses spin, GPS doesn't work, Knightmares shut down, and even energy weapons don't work."

Richard nodded slightly, "A perfect hiding place…"

"That's the idea."

The soldier cut in again, "You haven't told us, what is this 'Victoria' you're taking us to?"

She just pointed, "That."

Ahead of them was what at first looked like a metal wall, but upon closer inspection was the hull of old battleship, beached on the coral. Across the nose was a worn painting that read H.M.S. Victoria.

Sera walked lightly up to the side to where a large hole had been cut in the hull, stepping through it, pulling Richard with her.

All the soldiers climbed in as well, every one of them tense, looking for a trap.

"You can relax, ya know."

They all looked at the blonde.

"No one but me knows how to get here."

The soldiers didn't drop their guard, but still followed her deeper into the ship.

She led them up to a heavy bulkhead door and pried the latches open, shoving it open to reveal a large, but simple room. Inside was very little things, a simple bed, no more than a mattress on the floor, and an area that looked like it was made for cooking around a vented fire.

The captain looked around, "What is this place?"

"Where I grew up," she replied, walking into the room, limping slightly, and heading for the far wall of the room, "We'll stay here for about five hours, until the fog thins back out."

Muttering ran through the soldiers, and the captain spoke up, "Five hours!?"

"That's how long the mist swell lasts, I can only lead one, maybe two people through it…so we wait."

He started forward, "You little, you're just waiting for your friends to come, aren't you!?"

Richard pulled her back a bit, stepping in front of her, "She's telling the truth, I've been out in a mist swell before…it was hard enough to get through it with her leading the way. Stand down, we'll wait here until the tide comes back in."

The soldier nodded, stepping back, "Yes, of course, your highness."

Sera tugged on Richard's hand, pulling him down to a sitting position. Moving smoothly, She grabbed the bottom of her shirt with her free hand and flipped it over her head, leaving her dressed in a plain, black, spaghetti-strap top that stopped about three inches short of her waistband. She looked over at Richard, who's blush from seeing her flip her shirt off was just receding, then looked back down at where the shirt still hung from her bound arm, "Could ya help me? I need to get this off."

He gave her a confused look, "How?"

"Tear it, I need it in two pieces anyway."

More confusion, "Why's that?"

She just pointed down at her feet. He followed her pointing to see that her feet, still bare, were rather beat-up from walking across the rough terrain, and were even bleeding in a few places.

"O-oh!" he quickly complied, helping her rip the shirt apart along its seams, then helping her wrap the cloth tightly around her feet.

She smiled up at him, "Thanks."

He nodded, then looked back up, watching as the soldiers moved around, exploring and looking for threats, working to secure their position.

A few moments later, he felt an added pressure against his arm. He glanced down, opening his mouth to say something, only to cut off as he realized that the pressure was Sera's head, leaned against his shoulder…the girl was sound asleep; her knees curled up to her chest, and cuddled up against his arm.

A slight smile crossed his face, and then he motioned the captain over, beginning to talk to him in hushed tones.


	6. Princess of the Veil 5

"Wake her, the fog is thinning."

Sera cracked one of her eyes open, "I know, I'm already awake." She straightened herself, stretching her back, then glanced over at Richard to make sure he was ready to stand up.

The both of them now on their feet, Sera glanced around at all the soldiers, most of them having healed up enough to be able to move on their own. She took a deep breath, as if preparing herself for something, then spoke, "I'm gonna have to ask that everyone leave anything metal here."

All eyes were on her, several soldiers gripping their assault rifles. The Captain spoke up, "What? Leave everything metal? What are you on about?"

"Everything," her hand slid into her pocket and came out with her earrings, dropping them to the ground, "Not just guns and knives, but buttons, belt buckles, money, anything magnetic."

"You're crazy, girl…we're not walking through this hostile territory unarmed!"

"Do you wanna die?"

Instantly, every soldier in the room had their guns aimed at her, "Are you threatening us?"

Sera held up her free hand, "No, no, no, hear me out before you start waving your guns around. If we went out there like you all are right now, it would only be me and Richard that would make it out of the veil, because neither one of us is carrying anything magnetic."

Slowly, the captain lowered his rifle, "You'd better explain yourself right now, girl."

She sighed, then shrugged, "Guess I have no choice…okay, obviously, there's a reason that the veil is the way it is, constant fog, screwed up transmission, and compasses that stop pointing north."

"Cut to the chase, girl."

"Sheesh, be patient will ya? The whole mess is caused by the same thing…scattered throughout here are islands that are entirely made of hyperpolarized iron. Basically, the islands are super-magnets. There's also huge deposits of the stuff underground, that's why when the water from high tide isn't there to insulate it, the magnetics work on the polar nature of water and pull the fog tighter. I'm sure by now some of you have noticed that here, all your gear already feels heavier than normal, that's because we're close to one of the islands, and have to cross one to get out of here."

It all clicked for Richard, "So that's what happened to your ear…you walked onto one of these islands with an earring in, and it ripped it out."

"Well, it was actually three earrings, but yeah, right idea."

The soldier wasn't convinced, "Why should we believe you? We all already know that you want to escape, that's a given. Why should we believe that story about these island-magnets? If we do, then you could just lead us into an ambush and we'd be defenseless."

Sera frowned, frustrated, "Fine, lets go then, but no complaining when your body armor drags you to the ground and starts crushing you." She started walking, giving Richard a sharp jerk on his arm to start him walking too. As she started on her way, Richard noticed that her hand slipped into her pocket, pulling out her earrings and dropping them behind her.

Still clearly nervous, all the soldiers fell in, walking along behind them, weapons at the ready.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sera stopped, right at the edge of an island, having just stepped onto it from walking across coral. Richard looked down at her as she stared out across the island, seeming to be thinking.

The captain stepped up beside them, "What's wrong? Why did you stop?"

She looked up at him, "This is the last chance…the next island after this one is the magnetic one…by the time we make it across this little island, it'll be too late."

"You're still on about that, huh? Men, be wary of an ambush."

She twisted, glaring at him, "God you're dense! If I were leading you into an ambush, I wouldn't be warning you right before we got there! I'm trying to get you through here safe, like I promised I would, but you're just gonna march along until the veil kills you!"

The captain glared right back, "We have no evidence to support your claims."

She set her jaw, "Fine, you want proof? Do you have something metal, a coin, a button, anything small."

The soldier stared at her for a moment, then reached into his pocket, coming out with a coin, "Okay?"

"So you know I didn't do something weird, I'll let you do it…toss the coin straight up, then watch where it goes…toss it higher than the high point of that hill in the middle of the island."

He stared at her for a moment as all the soldiers gathered around, watching, while most of them seemed even more tense, tightening the grip on their guns. He nodded, tossing the coin straight up.

Flipping a few times from the toss, the coin flew up, then suddenly, without warning, it changed direction, pulled to the side and zipping off over the hill, vanishing from sight into the fog.

For a moment, they all stared at where it had vanished too, then looked down at Sera, their eyes wide.

"This is the island where I got hurt that once, the rock in this island works as a strong insulator, so I was caught by surprise when I was exploring this area, crested the island top and the magnetics were full strength. So, are you gonna listen to me or not?"

The captain took a deep, long breath, then let it out, "Is there any other way out of the veil."

"Only if you hadn't wrecked the Zodiac…the only land route out is here…we're almost there, by the way, this is the furthest out iron-island in the veil."

Silence for a long moment, then the captain turned, facing his men, "Men, we're going to listen to her…this is a chance I can't take. Leave everything magnetic behind, that's an order."

Responding slowly, the soldiers complied, setting down their weapons and starting to drop their gear.

It took a few minutes, but before long, the soldiers had left all their gear behind.

"Okay, looks like we're ready…just a warning, the magnetic fields might mess with your sense of balance, try not to fall. Oh, and the fog is always heavy on these islands, so you won't be able to see at all. We're gonna have to link hands and I'll lead us around the fringes of the island that've been worn smooth. Shuffle your feet as you walk so you can feel any uneven surfaces, we'll just take our time and get across. I know this'll be hard for you all, but I need you to trust me. Your normal senses of direction are gonna be off, a feeling similar to vertigo, just trust me and follow the direction I lead you in."

With that, Sera tightened her grip on Richard's hand, and started forward. Behind him, the captain spoke, "Forgive me for this, your highness," and grabbed onto the prince's hand. As they walked, the soldiers all linked up, walking in a strung out line. Sera walked forward, suddenly vanishing from sight into shockingly dense fog that swirled wildly.

As Richard stepped through into the fog, he instantly stumbled, trying to balance himself, feeling like he was right side up and upside down all at once…and they weren't even on the actual magnetic island yet.

The line of people moved, if anyone could have seen them, it would have looked like a line of drunks being drug along by a single sober person. They continued on, walking through nearly waist-deep water then out onto the next island, completely blind to where they were going.

Sharply, the line lurched, being pulled to a stop by someone in the back as the sounds of someone throwing up could be heard.

Sera yelled back, and despite the fact that Richard had her by the hand, it sounded like her voice came from three different directions at once, "Hey, come on, lets go! If you're gonna get sick, try to keep walking anyway; sooner we get through here the better."

The line shifted, then started forward again, Sera tugging the staggering line of people along, fringing around the island, then back into the water up to their knees. Basically in a lost haze, fighting just to stay balanced, no one really registered how far they walked, but slowly registered that the fog was clearing and their senses of balance were returning.

Finally able to see again, the soldiers dropped the links between them, back to walking along, all of them looking more nervous without their weapons.

In the nervousness of it all, no one was really talking until Richard looked over at the captain, "Captain, I have a question for you…something's been on my mind and I can't figure it out."

"Yes, your highness?"

"Does the name Elinda Pendragon mean anything to you?"

He blinked once, "Yes, your highness, it does…the Pendragon family was the noble family that designed and built the Imperial Palace, the Emperor at the time named it after them and placed the head of the family as an Archduke, placing him among the seven high noble families. The family got caught up in some kind of dispute with another noble family and was assassinated. The only survivor was believed to be Elinda Pendragon, who was away with her husband on a trip at the time…unfortunately, that was twenty years ago, when I was still a little kid, and no one ever saw her again. Why do you ask?"

Sera stopped cold, her mouth falling open as she stared at the captain, "Y-you're sure about that?"

He looked at her, looking a little confused, "Of course I am, I'm a soldier of Britannia, I'd hope I was versed in my basic history."

Richard could only stare at the girl as she just stared off into the fog…

The captain looked between the two people, "What's wrong?"

"Elinda Pendragon was…my mother's name," Sera whispered, "And they wrecked in the veil twenty years ago."

Instantly, all the soldiers, having been listening in, trying to figure out why they had stopped, stared at her, "What!?"

The captain stared, "You're saying that you are the daughter of Elinda Pendragon?"

"I don't know if it was the same…but yeah, that was my mom's name."

Almost numbly, she started walking forward again, clearly thinking as she walked.

All the soldiers stared at her, following along, one even commenting, "Now that you mention it, I've seen pictures of the Pendragon family, she's got the copper eyes and blonde hair that the whole family had."

Richard looked over at the captain, "That's why I asked you about what I did when we were back waiting for the tide to come back in. I thought it might be something like that."

The captain sighed a little, "If she truly is the lost heir to the Pendragon family, then it would offer more strength to your case."

Sera looked over at Richard, her gaze questioning him, so he explained, "I want to offer you a full pardon…and to bring you back with me, let you live a normal life, away from the chaos and violence of this life you're in. If you are who we think you are, then it'd be easy to pass it off that you were a long time hostage of the pirates, and they realized late that you weren't worth anything to them anymore since your family was wiped out, so they just forced you to join them." Before she could retort, he leaned in close and whispered to her, "I know that's not the truth, but it's the only way I can save you…I don't want you to die."

Suddenly, so abruptly that the instant brightness caused everyone to flinch, the fog ended, giving way to clear sky.

Sera was moving slowly, but pointed over to a rock that was off to the side, "There's a radio under there that you can use to call someone to come get you. Since you're outside the fog, radios will work again. So call them and they'll come pick you up."

The captain picked up on it first, "Don't you mean, 'us'?"

A little smile spread across her face and she opened her right hand, showing a small, pointed rock. She twisted her wrist around, the last little bit of the ziptie snapped, and she pulled her hand free of Richard's, moving back to put a few feet between her and the soldiers and prince. "I promised to lead you out, not to come with you once I did. So I'll be leaving now."

Richard spoke as the soldiers shifted, all clearly ready to charge and grab the girl, "Sera, wait! If I give you a pardon, you'll be free!"

She shook her head, "That's the kind of thing that I'd have to think about for a while, and I just can't take that chance. I've found an option that guarantees I'll stay free, so I'm taking it."

The captain glared, "You really think you can get away from all of us?"

She shook her head again, "No, you're gonna let me go. Think about it, I've been carrying this rock since we were at Lady Victoria, I coulda left you all any time I wanted, especially on that magnetic island. Leaving you all there would have been really easy. I spared your lives, so you'll spare mine." She looked right at Richard, a little smile on her face "After all, you can't have it said that the Twelfth Prince rewards kindness with cruelty." With that, she turned to walk away.

Richard gritted his teeth, looking frustrated, "But Sera, you deserve a better life than this."

She glanced back, "I'm not sure about that…I already told you I'm not a good person. But I'll remember your offer, and I might take you up on it someday. See ya later."

The captain stepped forward, "Your Highness?"

Richard held up his hand, a sad look on his face, "Stand your men down, Captain…we're letting her go. Oh, and captain? We were led out of the veil by a person who lived in the veil, not by one of the pirates."

He snapped to attention, "Yes, Your Highness!"

Tossing one last little smile back at them, the blonde girl vanished into the fog.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

A few hours later found Prince Richard de Britannia aboard one of the airships in the fleet. Looking back at the receding wall of fog as the ship flew away from the veil, leaving it far behind. He was already back into clothing better suited to his status, was all cleaned up, and looked none the worse for the wear save a few scrapes from the trip through the veil.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Meanwhile, a blonde, slightly beat-up girl pushed through the doors of her father's room, walking in without a word. She stood there, looking at her father for a moment.

In an instant, he was on his feet, wrapping her up in a hug, "Sera, thank God you're alright. We heard what happened, how did you escape?"

"They let me go after I led them out of the veil…favor for a favor I guess. Dad, I have a question."

He held her tight, "What is it?"

"Am I…some kind of Britannian nobility?"

He stiffened, holding her back at arm's length, "What? Where did you get that idea?"

"The princess…Elinda Pendragon was the last known survivor of the Pendragon family that disappeared twenty years ago…my mom. I'm not like…the 'lost heir' of the Pendragon family, am I?"

Her adoptive father's shoulders slumped, a weak smile crossing his face, "I figured you'd find out some day."

Her gaze snapped up, looking right at him, her mouth open, "Wh-what, I am? You knew!?"

He nodded slowly, "I knew…I've meant to tell you, but could never figure out how."

He walked over to the wall, pulling aside a picture frame to reveal his safe. Spinning the dial and opening the door, he pulled out a small case, handing it to her.

She took it and opened the case, looking into it to see a golden signet ring, emblazoned with a dragon. Gingerly, she took it out of the case, turning it over in her hands, examining the beautiful design of the ring, "Where…where did this come from?"

"I didn't expect you'd remember, after all, your memories were never very clear of the time gap before I found you…probably from the trauma of it all. You were wearing this around your neck when we found you. I recognized it as the seal of the Pendragon Family, and you really do look like your mother."

Sera stood still, silent, her copper eyes studying the elegant ring in her hand.

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Aboard the airship, Prince Richard stood; talking to a scientist that held a plastic bag in his hand, within was a few strands of blonde hair. He spoke steadily, "I'm not sure why, but I have to know…there is a chance that the lost Archduke's family isn't completely gone."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Still staring at the ring, she seemed to make a decision and looked up at her adoptive father, "Dad…do you think someone around here could size this to my finger?"


	7. Pirate in the Palace 1

Three weeks had passed since the events that had ripped Prince Richard de Britannia from his life as nobility…and now everything was back to how it had been before, with the exception of the fact that his bodyguards tended to keep a much closer eye on him than they had before. His birthday celebration was in only a few days, and much of the royal family was returning from abroad, coming home to celebrate.

He'd spent a fair amount of time conversing with several scientists, always about those bits of hair that had been stuck to his clothing during the 'incident'. In the end, the conclusion had come back…positive, the DNA tests had shown that the pirate he'd met was the daughter of Elinda Pendragon. This made it all the more infuriating that he hadn't been able to convince her to come back…since the vanishment of the Pendragon Family, all their assets had simply been frozen, maintained, but not really controlled by anyone. If she had returned, all of that would have become hers, in addition to the position of high nobility.

He was snapped out of his thoughts, bringing him back to the garden balcony he stood on as a servant spoke behind him, "Excuse me, your highness."

He turned to face the servant, an older man that acted as a butler to him while he was at the palace, "Yes?"

The man held forward a silver plate with a sealed envelope on it, "I have a letter for you, sir."

Richard sighed, "Who is it from?"

The butler lowered his head slightly, "I apologize, but I do not know…however, I am aware of what you had been researching of late and, well…this letter is sealed with the mark of Pendragon."

Before the old man registered what had happened, the letter had been snatched up from the plate and Richard was holding it up, staring at the wax seal on the back of the envelope, marked with the figure of a dragon.

"Wh-what is this? Some kind of prank?"

The butler bowed slightly, tucking the plate against his chest, "I do not know, your highness, the letter arrived just minutes ago, naturally we ran all the usual checks on it, there's nothing within but a piece of paper, written on in standard ink. Of course, this was all scanned, we have no knowledge of the contents of the letter."

Richard didn't look at the man, still staring at the envelope. Finally making up his mind, he broke the wax seal and opened the envelope, sliding out a simply piece of lined paper, a short note written on it in neat print.

'To: His Highness Richard de Britannia,

Your highness, after considerable thought, I have decided to agree with you and come forward. If you still desire to assist me in reclaiming that which is mine, I will be at the entrance to my family home from three to four o'clock today.

Sincerely,

Arturia Pendragon'

He re-read the note a total of five times before it fully processed. Each time through the note, his face lit up brighter and brighter, then he looked up at the butler, "What time is it?"

"Two o'clock, your highness."

He stiffened, "I need transportation, immediately."

"Yes, your highness."

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Immediately didn't end up happening, and in the end it was nearly four o'clock by the time the car, complete with convoy of security vehicles and armed guards, pulled up in front of the sealed gate to the Pendragon mansion.

As soon as the cars came to a stop, Richard stepped out, looking around; then he stopped short. As he stood there, all the guards piled out of the vehicles, starting to arrange themselves. But what was clearly the center of attention was the person standing in front of the gate…it wasn't who he was expecting.

Standing there was a massive man, standing about six foot, ten inches and being nearly four feet across, shoulder to shoulder. Gray eyes studied all the guards as they circled around, arranging themselves, many of them looking at him nervously and looking at the prince for cues.

Getting over his initial shock of the size of the man, he walked forward, looking up at him, "Excuse me, sir."

The big man looked down at Richard, waiting.

"I…received a letter today from someone telling me to meet them here, was that you?"

A little smile cracked the man's face, and he spoke, a surprisingly gentle voice from the big man, "No, your highness, my name it Iraneus Jacks, I am the acting guardian of Lady Arturia Pendragon. She is the one who sent you the letter."

At that, a very familiar person stepped out from where she had been, completely hidden behind the big man. Nothing about her had changed from when he'd seen her in the veil, still dressed very casually, still having all those steel earrings in, and still wearing her cheerful, whimsical smile. "Hey Richard, how've ya been?"

His mouth fell open, he'd been certain she was the one who'd sent that letter, but it still surprised him to see her, "S…Ser." He cut off, remembering what name she was using now, "Arturia…Wh…what're…hi, I've been well…how about you?"

Her smile spread a little, "You can still call me Sera, since that's what you're used to. And I've been good. So uh…" she leaned to the side, looking at all the soldiers that were with him, "Got enough of an escort?"

Richard glanced back at all the gun-toting men behind him, "Y-yeah…they're actually why I was so slow getting here."

Sera let out a little laugh, "That's a pain, all the escort I need is Jacks here." She nudged the big man with her elbow and he smiled down at her, patting her on the shoulder, his hand completely enveloping it.

She glanced up at Jacks, her gaze carrying a message, and he stepped backwards, giving her some space. That done, she stepped forward so she was only inches away from Richard and placed her right hand on his right shoulder, pulling her face beside his and whispering into his ear, "I'm taking you up on your offer…but rather than take the full pardon, I'm making it so I don't need it. Here's the story, after the incident with my family, my parents wrecked in the veil and I was raised not knowing my heritage. My parents died when I was young, and Jacks took care of me from there until I was old enough to claim my birthright. When I was leaving you all at the fringes of the veil, I overheard you say that you were led out by someone who just lived in the veil, so we'll go with that. Unless a story you told already contradicts this, after the soldiers rescued you from the pirates and got lost in the fog, I found you and led you out. Oh, and to conceal my identity I grew up with the name Sera Dering, rather than my proper name, Arturia Pendragon, so that's why Jacks calls me that, and why you know me by that name…got it?"

Richard nodded, then asked, "But…how did you find out for sure that you really were who I thought you were?"

She tapped her ring finger against his shoulder, "This…my Dad said I had this with me when he found me. It's how he knew who I was."

Richard looked down at her hand to see the gold signet ring on her hand, instantly recognizing the seal of the Pendragon family. "You have their seal? Wow…and well…I kinda had some tests done…using a bit of your hair that ended up stuck on my shirt…we have medical proof that you are the heir to the Pendragon family."

Sera let out a little laugh, then stepped back, "So, you're the one that's familiar with the way this all works, that's why I came to you first…what's next?"

Richard turned to the side, thinking, "Well, I don't remember there ever being a case of a family that was thought to be dead having an heir turn up after this long…at least not once since I've been alive. But, in the end, it's my father that will need to confirm all of this, so you'll need an audience with him…so I'd say that we could probably just skip straight to that, I'll get you an audience with Father, and I guess we can figure it out from there, I'll need to have the genetics tests run directly on you at some point, just so that there's no confusion."

"Well, sooner the better, I think…don't suppose we can go now, do ya?"

"Now?"

"Well, yeah…it's not like I have anything else to do around here."

"Um, it takes time to get a hearing with the Emperor, you can't just walk in and start talking to him."

"Really? That's weird, but you're his son, right? So it shouldn't be a problem for you."

"It's not like that, really, I mean, sure, I'll probably get priority over other nobles since I'm a prince, but he's the Emperor of Britannia before he's my father."

Sera gave him an incredulous look, "That's…that's crazy! Dad would drop whatever he was doing if I needed to talk to him."

"I know…I wish it was like that…but that's how things work in the Britannian royal family."

"Hmm, so do we need an appointment to get those tests run on me too?"

"Oh, no…I'll just talk to the scientists that tested it for me in the first place, they should be able to take you whenever."

"Well, lets go then."

Richard nodded, then turned to the man that was clearly the highest ranking officer there with him, now speaking loudly enough that everyone around could hear them, "Captain, you will now escort myself and the lady here to the Royal Hospital, along with her escort as well."

The soldier saluted sharply, "Yes, your highness!"

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-

Sera's eyes roamed around the hallway as they walked down it, seemingly taking in everything there was to see and actually seeming quite impressed by the fact that the buildings weren't made out of old busted ships.

Richard spoke, snapping her out of looking around, "Here we are."

She looked ahead of them to see a pair of solid doors marked with assorted warning signs that clearly stated that it was to be accessed only by authorized personnel.

After tapping a code into the control panel next to the door and waiting for the door to slide open, Richard walked through, motioning for Sera to follow.

She stepped through, looking around at the immaculate room and the massive collection of scientific equipment that was all over the place…most of which she had never seen before.

Much unlike previously, where everyone that had seen Richard had bowed or saluted, pretty much everyone in the room ignored them, some giving a slight glance to see who had come into the room, but most not even looking away from their work.

One of them, however, split away from his work, an older man with a grandfatherly look about him despite being dressed in a long lab cat, and walked over to the two, "Your highness, what can I do for you today?"

Richard smiled at him, "Do you remember that hair sample I had you analyze for me a few days ago?"

"Of course, your highness, I still can't believe that there is an heir to the lost Pendragon family still alive…oh how I wish I could have met her. But, if I may be so bold, your highness, who is this young lady?"

Richard smirked slightly, "The girl that the hair you tested belongs to, Arturia Pendragon. She decided to come here to claim her birthright and I need you to rerun your tests, specifically on her, so that we can prove her identity."

The older man stared at the girl, his eyes widening, "Why…you…you're the very image of Lady Elinda Pendragon…I-I'm Doctor Isaiah Durack, a long-time servant to the Pendragon family." He dropped to one knee in front of her, bowing his head, "Allow me to welcome you home, milady, if milady you be."

Sera, however, just stared at him, not really sure how to react to that, "Um…okay."

Richard stepped forward, "Please, Doctor Durack, we need to get these tests run quickly, I've already sent in a request for an audience with Father, having the genetic test results would be a great help."

The older man practically sprung to his feet, "Yes, of course…I already have the genetics work done on those strands of hair you gave me, all I have to do is take a blood sample and ensure that the DNA from the hair matches the DNA in the blood sample. It shouldn't take long at all. Please, right this way."


End file.
